CLINIC

here's one that took a while to grow on me - the new(ish) Clinic record Bubblegum - I never know what to make of these guys - it freaked me out how obsessively samey so much of their catalogue sounds, but then I made peace with the idea of mining a particular vein and I'm suddenly OK again. This last record is a bit of a departure from their numerous other albums (quieter, more acoustically centered [which generally gives me a rash] but these dudes are so CLINIC that it's alright).

Out of the older albums, Funf is one of my fav Clinic outings (I think it's b-sides or scraps or something) - it's beautiful (Majestic, Christmas)and it fucking rips (Nicht, The Scythe). There's really no bad Clinic record, they're all pretty goddamn consistent.

"Nicht" from Funf

Aquarius Records (SF) SEZ:

"Latest releases from blackened soundscaper Thaniel Ion Lee, who we first heard in his guise as Blood Escutcheon, who split a tape with black metal weirdos Cloak Of Displacement, and then released a cd-r (both sadly out of print). He then released a cool boxed cd-r called White (which we just got back in and you'll find listed elsewhere on this week's list), and is back again, now in a duo called No Copper, whose sounds is less droned out and blackened than Blood Escutcheon or his solo record, and more abstract, ritualistic soundscaping, inhabiting a soundworld more along the lines of say No Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand Of The Man or Avarus, long buzzing tones, pounding abstract drums, scrapes and creaks, lush layered drones, raw and lo-fi, minimal, but gorgeously thick and washed out, caustic in places, noisy in others, but all blurred and smeared into a dark landscape of echo drenched reverberations, melodic fragments, rhythmic experiments and black ambient shimmer, all flecked with bits of folky flutter and strange abstract sonic filigree. Fans of Lee's other projects will definitely dig.
The flipside is occupied by an outfit called Tropical Trash, who may or may not also be called the Coconut Crimewave Big Band, but who prove themselves worthy foils for No Copper, with a sound that pushed even further into avant rock territory, a sort of free jazz / avant noise, heavy rhythmic, twisted electronic freakout heavy rock crush (!), the group fusing pounding drums to clouds of swirling glitched out swoops and swirls, before launching into some seriously blown out heaviness, thick churning riffage, pounding drums, all peppered with some bleeping electronics, and a sheen of hazy buzzy soft focus noise, a killer slab of classic electronic flecked noise rock, that definitely has us wanting to hear more! The band soon return to scrabbling and abstract skitter, the rock crush ditched in favor of some experimental abstraction, which is bombarded over the course of the rest of their side with some seriously fierce drum damage,
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Housed in cool hand screened origami style cardstock boxes, each one hand numbered, with a printed insert."

Tropical Trash / No Copper Split Cassette Unveiled In This Most Final Of Years

IT'S HERE FREAKS! THE FIRST OFFICIAL NON-CDR RELEASE FROM TROPICAL TRASH - "CLIMAX CATHEDRAL/CLIMAX CONTROL" - OUR SEXIEST COLLECTION OF TUNES YET - NONSTOP CRYSTAL PRISONS OF YOUR OWN DEVISING - CRUSHED ONTO TAPE AND HEATED TO WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU WANT. DOUBLE TRIO + 1 FEATURING GINGER GOSS, WARREN GRAY, NEAL ARGABRIGHT, KIRK, JORDAN, JIM, AND JEFF KOMARA - YR GONNA BE HARD PRESSED TO FIND A NASTIER GOD SHAPED HOLE IN YR LIFE.

and on the flip side... NO COPPER COMPRISED OF LOCAL ALCHEMISTS THANIEL ION LEE AND DOUGLAS LUCAS - PRESENTING "BIRDS" - WUT - AN ICED WITCH KNOWING - ORDERS BOTH RUBY AND CRYSTAL - PLASTIC BONES AND REPLACEMENTS FOR ALL SPEEDS - FREAQ NASTY FOR THE SWAMP SET RECORDED ALL OVER KENTUCKIANA

LET ME FINISH WITH A NIETZSCHE QUOTE:
"What if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more' ... Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.' " - [§341]







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